The Homing Pigeon

PIGEON

CHAPTER I

DARWIN was the first scientist to prove satisfactorily that all varieties of domestic pigeons are descended from the common Blue Rock Dove or Columba livia. The truth of Darwin’s hypothesis is now generally accepted as fully established. No book on the Homing Pigeon would be complete which did not contain an account of this interesting creature, as a knowledge of its structure, its habits and habitat is absolutely essential to perfect and intelligent appreciation of the Modern Homing Pigeon. Moreover, certain characteristics of Homing Pigeons can only be understood through a knowledge of their wild progenitors, and the development of the Homing faculty can only be successfully traced, by comparing and contrasting the degree in which it exists in the wild bird with the more perfectly developed faculty which is characteristic of the domestic variety.

It has often been stated that our birds are what we make them. I quite agree with the truth of this statement, but, at the same time, without we go to the progenitors of a race, it is absolutely impossible to know or learn how our birds were made. It is not my intention to give a detailed description of the Rock Dove, as such a course is not essential to my present purpose; but I do feel that a knowledge of its habits and characteristics will assist in clearing up many difficulties which beset the uninitiated.

The Rock Dove lives in great numbers on most of the islands of the Hebrides, the Orkneys, and the Shetlands, and is found as far west as the Faroe Islands; in fact, there is hardly an island of these groups, however small, which does not contain caves inhabited by individuals of this species. These islands are rugged in character, and the coast line is very irregular, having been worn into diverse and fantastic shapes by the waves of the Atlantic. Huge cliffs of granite, basalt, and felspar raise their towering heads high above the surge’s angry roar, and are perforated with caverns of every size and shape, from the stately Fingal’s Cave, with its six-sided basaltic columns, and in which the sound of the rushing waves resembles the peals of a gigantic organ, to the smallest grotto, whose waters are as smooth as crystal and hardly ever break into a ripple as they gently creep over the golden sand.

In such caves as these dwells the pretty Rock Dove, living and building its nest on the rocky shelves and ledges, with which the caves abound. It is a grand sight, in the early morning, to see the colony break up into flocks, and leave the caves for the seashore or the open country in quest of food, or to see them return in the cool of the evening, when their depredations are o’er. You suddenly hear a whirr of wings, and see numbers of these tiny creatures darting through the colossal portals of the cave, presenting a transient picture of a streak of living, silver light as the sun lights up their glowing wings, but quickly disappearing from ken, so rapid is their flight. Onwards they go, until they arrive at the stubbles, and if these are situated well in the open country, they alight suddenly, although at times they wheel round and round and approach the earth in gradually diminishing circles, as though suspicious of the presence of an enemy.

They are very shy and suspicious, but may be approached when they are feeding, especially if one is well versed in stealthy and serpentine movement. They move about very rapidly, and pick up the grain, or slugs and snails to which they are partial, with wondrous avidity. When they are disturbed or are ready to return home, there is a smack and rush of wings, and off they go to the caves. It is well worthy of notice that they fly at a low elevation, and only just skim over the rocks or other impediments which occur in the line of flight.

The birds are of necessity partly migratory in their habits, as those inhabiting the smaller islands are compelled to resort to the mainland for food, especially when the harvest of the islands has been got in, which always occurs earlier than with that of the mainland. But they are only partially migratory, and in no sense do their migrations approach the wonderful journeys accomplished by Modern Homing Pigeons. They drink from the pools on the shore, and to this fact may be attributed the love of our bird for salt, which is, in the main, hereditary.

They construct their nests of sticks, dry seaweed, heather, and coarse grass, each constituent being pliable and elastic, the whole structure allowing the escape of the epidermal dust cast off by the feathering youngsters. We might do far worse than adopt the use of such materials for the accommodation of birds kept under domestication. They probably bring off two broods a year, which distinctly shows that precosity of generation has been acquired under domestication, and which supplies an example of the wonderful economy of nature.

They are easily tamed, and if taken from the nest when quite young and brought up by the hand, their attentions to their human foster parents become a positive nuisance. They show no desire of joining the passing flocks of their wild congeners, unless they are compelled to do so through starvation, brought on by the inattention of their negligent owners. Macgillivray, who gives a delicious account of this bird, quotes an instance of one which he brought up by hand, and which one day flew to a neighbouring village, alighted on the roof of a cabin, and was stoned to death by some unthinking boys. This bird’s loss he mourned sincerely and long.

Again, if a pair of eggs are hatched by domestic pigeons, the young immediately adapt themselves to their new surroundings, and scarcely ever wander off to join the colonies of wild birds inhabiting caves in close proximity to their cote. This fact is worthy of note, as the young of no other wild species of pigeon shows this aptitude for domestication in the slightest degree.

The food of these birds consists for the most part of oats, barley, and the seeds of wild grasses and herbs, together with small snails and slugs to which they are particularly partial. They are great eaters, and consequently ensure perfect mastication by consuming small fragments of rock, sand, and earthy matter. Their menu is naturally somewhat limited, and oats form the stable food, as that grain is grown in greatest abundance, in the higher latitudes, where the Rock Dove loves to dwell. This grain would be one of the finest on which to feed our birds, could we secure immunity against damage to their crops from the peculiar pickly nature of the grain. I am, likewise, firmly convinced that those of our birds which are compelled to forage for themselves, devour a quantity of slugs and small snails, which must be of eminent value to them, and play a very important part in bringing about perfection of condition.

We now come to a description of the bird itself. It is a compact little bird, being about 14 inches in length, with an extent of wing of some 27 inches. The neck is short, the head small, and the bill slender and straight, with the upper mandible slightly arched at some little distance from the extremity. The eyes are small compared with those of a Homing Pigeon, and the cere and wattle are but little developed. The legs are short and thin, which adds somewhat to its cobby appearance. The keel and shoulder girdle are nicely developed, and the pectoral muscles are correspondingly large. The female differs from the male only in inferiority of size and lustre of plumage, and there seems to be but little individual variation.

The feathers are tight-fitting and plenteous; those of the wing are long and pointed, while the length of the retrices or tail feathers is proportionate to that of the primary flights of the wing. The birds handle like a bit or wire, as they are so hard in feather. Although the muscles and shoulder girdle are well developed, it must not be thought, for one moment, that they are comparable with those of the modern Homer.

The colour of the plumage is a slaty blue, with the exception of the croup, lower wing coverts, auxiliaries, and the outer web of each lateral tail feather, which are all pure white, whilst the broad wingbars and the terminal band of the tail are both a deep black. The primaries are also of a brownish gray on the outer web, which accounts for the dark shade of the wing extremities.

The colour of the Rock Dove deserves especial notice, as in the wild state it is generally constant, with the exception of the chequering which sometimes occurs in individuals of this variety, and breeders of pigeons know how difficult it is to breed out the white rump, while the veriest tyro is cognisant of the preponderance of blue birds in any particular variety of domestic pigeons. Reversion to the white rump and to the distinctive colouring of the Rock Dove is inevitable in a loft where the slightest laxity is allowed to creep in. Among the wild birds may be noticed other birds of a different colour; but these are probably members of domestic varieties which have escaped from their lofts and taken up their quarters with the Rock Doves, which mate and breed freely with members of any particular variety of domestic pigeons. Variations of colour must necessarily follow as a result of such peculiar unions.

Mr. Darwin discovered that two geographical races were closely allied to the C. livia, viz., the C. intermedia and the C. affinis.

Before Darwin’s time the C. intermediate, or wild rock pigeon of India, had been accepted by some naturalists as a distinct species. This bird differs chiefly from the Rock Dove in the rump being blue instead of white. This character, however, is highly variable, and when the variety is domesticated, chequered birds appear, just as they appear in the wild C. livia of Europe. The variety is easily tamed, and breed freely with domesticated varieties. In their native wilds they nest in public buildings, palaces, temples and mosques, and thus follow the rock-building instinct of the C. livia. They range from Ceylon to the Himalaya, and are, in fact, distributed through the whole of India, and bear the name The Blue Pigeon of India.

Again, the C. affinis, which was at one time regarded as a distinct species, differs from the C. livia in two points only. It is somewhat smaller than the C. livia, while its plumage is chequered instead of blue. As this chequering is, however, but the diffusion of the black of the wingbars over the other parts of the plumage, little importance can be attached to this difference of colour. Chequered birds are not confined to the coasts of England, the natural home of the C. affinis, for they have been found in the Orkneys, the Hebrides, and as far west as Faroe. I might add that I have been assured, on very good authority, that the Rock Dove of Faroe is quite a distinct race from the birds of the Orkneys and Hebrides.

These three races, together with other allied races, have a wide geographical range, and are found distributed throughout Europe and Asia, from north to south and from east to west.

No wonder, then, that Mr. Darwin came to the conclusion that the C. affinis and C. intermedia cannot be ranked as specifically distinct from the C. livia, neither can the other geographical races so closely allied to it, and from which all domesticated varieties of pigeons have sprung, in the same manner as the C. affinis and C. intermedia are descended from the Rock Dove. Dovecot pigeons are descended from one or more of the above wild forms, but are more highly variable in colour, size, etc. Mr. Darwin points out that there is a relation between the croup being white or blue and the temperature of the country inhabited by both wild and domestic pigeons, for nearly all the dovecot pigeons of Europe have a white croup, like the C. livia, while those of Asia have a blue croup, like those of the C. intermedia.

That all varieties of domestic pigeons are descended from the C. livia is patent to every thinking man, especially if he considers the habits and characteristics which are common to all, and recognises that all the important variations are the results of man’s selection. It has been argued that certain other species of the Columbidæ may have been the progenitors of the variety pigeons, but it will be found that the C. turtur, C. aenas, and C. palumbus are different in habits and constitution from all varieties of domestic pigeons. They build their nests in trees, are more migratory in character than the C. livia, and are absolutely impossible of domestication. Moreover, when eggs of these species are hatched by domestic pigeons, the young ones are incapable of domestication, and soon seek the haunts of their wild congeners. On the other hand, as I have before noticed, the young of the C. livia hatched under precisely the same conditions at once settle down to their new surroundings and show little or no inclination for the natural life.

But Mr. Darwin went further than this, and points out many reasons for assuming that the Rock Dove is the progenitor, and adduces the following evidence which appears to me to be altogether indisputable.

1. If the races of domestic pigeons are descended from several aboriginal stocks, then there must have been at least eight or nine distinct species which perched on rocks, and which would have to be domesticated.

2. These species must have bred readily when confined, and a dozen kinds now unknown must have been domesticated. As few species breed freely under confinement, and as no race of domestic pigeon has ever been found in a wild state, as the modification under domestication would unfit them for that state, we are compelled to admit the impossibility of their ever having existed.

3. Different varieties of domestic pigeons must have been produced from different aboriginal species, which have now become extinct. But the characteristics of varieties are eminently variable, and the result of man’s selection, therefore, when reversion sets in, it should tend towards the characters of many aboriginal progenitors instead of, as is really the case, towards one.

4. All domestic varieties readily pair together and produce fertile young, which could scarcely have been possible had they been the product of a dozen specifically different aboriginal progenitors.

5. In other respects than in important characteristic differences all races agree more closely with each other and with the C. livia. Thus all domestic pigeons are sociable, all dislike to perch or roost, all refuse to build in trees, all take the same time for incubation, all prefer the same food, all are passionately fond of salt, all can endure the great range of climate, and all present the same range of variation in colour. This resemblance cannot be accidental, but must be the result of inheritance—the dominance of influence of the C. livia on all the varieties of which it is the common progenitor.

Again, let man neglect his part in selection, and variation or regression to the aboriginal ancestor the C. livia at once sets in, and if neglect is continuous the principal characteristics of a race will soon be lost.

The effect of this reversion is more clearly seen in its effect on the colour of the plumage, and no matter how careful a breeder may be, reversion of colour is bound to take place. The majority of Homers are of precisely the same colour as the C. livia. Again, everyone knows how difficult it is to breed a blue without a croup of some varying colour, from a dark slate to a pure white. All these points are pregnant with meaning, and should Mr. Darwin be correct in attributing correlation between climate and the colour of the croup to the effect of climate, then a field of research is opened out, infinite in range and utility, and one in which every fancier of Homing Pigeons may perform something towards contributing to the final grand result, by observing the characteristics of birds of varying colour, what coloured birds are the hardiest, the most determined, freest from disease, most consistent workers, etc. Are they blue, or red, or blue with a white croup?

I feel that sufficient evidence has been given to show that the Rock Dove is the common progenitor of all the domestic races of pigeons, and, were more needed, I should only have to add that the degenerate descendants of the Eastern Carrier, from which the modern Homer is descended, bear such a striking resemblance to the C. livia, as to be scarcely distinguished from it.

When the facts contained in this chapter have been carefully weighed, I feel that my readers will have no difficulty in tracing in the C. livia all those characteristics which are found in our bird, and that they will agree with me when I state that what differences do exist are differences of degree and not of kind. Man may modify, but he cannot create, and therefore the characters, whether mental or physical, must exist in degree before he can possibly bring about any variations. We simply modify existing characters, but we cannot create new ones. As all the characters of the modern Homer exist in degree in the Rock Dove, I feel that this bird is the progenitor of a product which, though vastly more intelligent and perfect in physique, is but a modified race of the C. livia.

CHAPTER II

THE history of the Homing Pigeon must be sought for in the history of civilization and mankind. Our bird is not a comparatively new product, as many suppose, but existed many, many years previous to the Christian Era.

Mankind, even in a state of partial civilization, would recognise the wonderful powers of the pigeon, and would seek to develop, as far as in them lay, those powers to the highest degree of perfection. But when we consider the ancient civilizations of the East, which existed thousands of years before the Christian Era, we are compelled to admit, however reluctantly, that the homing faculty was fully recognised, and that Homing Pigeons took a useful part in all that made up human life.

But at the same time it must be admitted that the ancient history of the Homing Pigeon, like all ancient history, is merged in obscurity, which makes it very difficult to distinguish between the true and the false, and between theory and fact. Still, when we consider that the East was not only the cradle of mankind, but also the source from whence we Occidentals derived nearly all our domesticated breeds of animals and birds, we cannot conceive for one moment that the Orientals would be ignorant of one of the most useful as well as one of the most patent characteristics of the pigeon.

Again, they had the materials at hand from which to extract those variable characteristics which are dominant in all our domestic varieties of pigeons. I mean the Columba livia, or one of the allied races, the Columba intermedia, which I dealt with in the first chapter.

And, still further, we have another kind of evidence to show that these Eastern nations were cognisant of the existence of the homing faculty in pigeons, for we are able to trace almost perfectly the descent of the modern Homer, as it at present exists, from the Columba livia through various other races and through the degenerate Eastern Carrier in an almost unbroken succession. The changes occur in that degree of gradation and sequential succession as to exclude doubt, and to show more plainly the truth laid down in the last chapter, that the Columba livia is the common progenitor of all varieties of domestic pigeons. The degenerate Eastern Carrier of to-day is so little removed from the Rock Dove that a naturalist might well be pardoned for classifying it with that particular species. In fact, we have a parallel in our Dovecot Pigeons, which many naturalists classify with the Columba affinis.

Perhaps the earliest recorded instance of man using the pigeon for homing purposes is that recorded of Noah, some 2,000 years prior to the Christian Era. For my own part, I do not think Noah was aware of the existence of the homing instinct in the Dove when using it to find out whether the waters were abated, or he would not have used a raven, just previously, for the same purpose. He was simply aware that the Raven was carnivorous and the Dove granivorous, that was all. He discovered his mistake at once when the Raven failed to return, and knew that the Dove must perforce return when she found no resting place for her foot. She was compelled to return for food and shelter, and this fact alone was sufficient for Noah to be absolutely certain that the Dove would make a reliable messenger. The story is exceedingly pretty, but I have yet to learn that Noah was cognisant of the homing faculty. If so, why use the Raven? Noah recognised the intervention of the law of necessity, and with this evidence we must rest content.

I also feel it somewhat unsafe to accept the evidence of ancient historians of the wonderful achievements of Homing Pigeons or even of man. No doubt they used the Carrier pigeon, but in a far less limited degree than it is used to-day, for although their civilization reached a degree of perfection, in some respects equal to our own, yet they had not the facilities for training the birds which we at present enjoy. The railway and locomotives were unknown and when the geographical character of the Eastern countries is taken into account it seems hopeless to suppose that the birds ever achieved the performances of which our modern birds are capable. Certainly, pigeon-posts may have existed and probably did exist among these ancient people, but I firmly believe that one set of birds flew from one town to the next, and that another relay of birds was utilised for conveying messages to the next town, and so on. Ancient historians mingle fact and theory so shamelessly, and interlard it with fancy and fiction, that it is difficult to winnow the wheat from the chaff and the false from the true. Their conduct in this direction may be excused, when the meagreness of the material at their disposal is taken into account; for historians were thrown back on the chronicles, and the chroniclers to the ballads as sources of inspiration.

Still, let it be borne in mind that I am absolutely convinced in my own mind that pigeons were used for homing purposes by these civilised orientals, for as they had them under domestication, they must have observed them closely, which led to their discovery of the untility of these little aerial voyagers. The Persians, Assyrians, Phœnicians, Egyptians, Lydians, and all those earlier civilized races must have been dependent in some degree on the Homing Pigeon’s assistance in prosecuting their military and naval campaigns, their commercial transactions and maritime ventures. People, so intellectual and so utilitarian, could not and would not miss the opportunity of establishing an animate postal service to assist them in the accumulation of wealth. Moreover, the Phœnician adventurers would certainly utilise Homing Pigeons for the purpose of giving notice to the people at home that their ships were approaching land.

There is still another important point to be considered, and that is the importance which religion played in the national life of these ancient nations. These religions were for the most part purely mythical, but priestcraft was dominant, and the people were most easily imposed on and gulled by any strange story or conjuring trick recited or performed by their spiritual superiors. There was a great resemblance between these ancient mythologies, whether Egyptian, Assyrian, Phœnician, or Babylonian. The doctrine of the transmigration of souls was an essential factor to each and all of the religions, and, therefore, the lives of animals and birds would be protected, as the creatures themselves would be regarded as sacred. No doubt the priests of Ammon in Ethiopia, of Isis and Osiris in Egypt, of Nisroch in Assyria were assisted in their prophetic utterances and miraculous knowledge by innocent Homing Pigeons. These birds were held sacred by most of the ancients, and to kill them was a capital offence.

When Queen Semiramis of Assyria had consulted the oracle of Jupiter Ammon in Ethiopia, she returned to her own land and waited the fulfilment of the prophecy in great patience. The day soon came, and with it the consummation of the event. A flock of beautiful white doves alighted on the roof of the palace, on which the queen was immediately transformed into a bird of like nature, and, joining the flock, disappeared with them into the blue. This story is eloquent with meaning, as showing the truth of ancient history, the influence of priestcraft, and the credulity of a people who could believe in transmigration, not only of soul, but of body also.

Again, the Mahometans and Hindus regard the bird as sacred, and even now-a-days at the shrine of Mahomet at Medina, thousands of pigeons, probably degenerate Eastern Carriers, are to be seen, which are protected most carefully, and are called the Prophet’s Birds.

In nearly every form of religion the pigeon or dove has been typical of the highest and the holiest, and even in the Christian religion or the religion of Judaism this holds true. There is a certain mysticism enshrouding these birds even to-day, and we can quite forgive the ancients for believing them to be divine messengers to the self-constituted priestly representatives on earth.

The Egyptians paid the same attention to pigeons as did the Persians. Lofts were constructed in various towns, and one set of birds was flown to the nearest loft, while fresh relays were sent to the next, and so on.

This system reached its highest point of perfection under the Pharaohs, and I cannot think that the resemblance in the method of training was accidental. I am further convinced by the fact that the pigeon houses of Egypt were an exact replica of those of Persia, being cone-shaped buildings, resembling bee-hives in construction, and quite palatial when compared with the mud huts of the slaves who lived on the banks of the Nile, and who were employed in those laborious tasks of constructing and completing the magnificent buildings which constitute the chief glory of the Coptic civilization. The question is: Did the Egyptians learn the pigeon’s utility from the Persians, or the Persians from the Egyptians? I am inclined to think that the former is the true one, for Sesostris or Rameses III carried his conquests through all the neighbouring countries, and thus probably learned of the existence of the Persian pigeon post. This is, of course, assumption on my part, but it seems feasible at any rate.

I have now a word of warning to offer on a point connected with this subject, and which has often irritated me. It is this. We must be exceedingly careful in admitting as evidence those ancient pictures and hieroglyphics, whether Persian, Assyrian, or Egyptian, which some authorities are so fond of advancing as direct proof of the adaptation of the Homing Pigeon to the same purposes and in the same degree as those existent to-day by these ancient people. I have known certain writers refer to a cast of an Egyptian sculpture in the British Museum, which depicts the victorious Sesostris in the act of decapitating a poor unfortunate captive, and over whose head is flying a bird, as indisputable evidence of the fact that pigeons were used for homing purposes by that monarch. The bird in question must be a Homer, and the attachment a message! Another cast of the same series depicts the Sovereign in pursuit of a vanquished enemy and following in his wake is a flock of birds which might easily be taken for Homing Pigeons. But such evidence is to be distrusted, for hieroglyphics are but weak reeds on which to lean, more especially when we consider that the sacred bird of Egypt was the hawk, which represented Rah the great sun-god, and which was nearly always depicted as bearing the shen, symbolical of the path of the sun, in one of its claws. This bird might easily be taken for a Homing Pigeon bearing a message by the casual historical student.

The nearest approach we have to the Modern Homer depicted by these sculptures is one discovered on an arabesque of the fated city of Pompeii, which was destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius, 79 A.D. This bird resembles a pigeon in all respects, and possesses a head something like that of an Antwerp.

But however much we may desire to get at the degree in which Homing Pigeons were employed by the ancients—and we are assured that a perfect pigeon-post existed between Bagdad, Aleppo, etc., in the most remote times, founded no doubt, on the system mentioned previously in this chapter—we find our researches hampered by ancient writers, besides being clouded in that mysticism, the seductive practice of which delights the subtle Oriental mind.

It always seems so strange to me that the victorious Hellenic and Romanic potentates, who carried their conquests far into Asia, did not record the doings of these aerial messengers more fully, and that they did not take greater advantage of the utilitarian principle involved in their use. For instance, when Alexander the Great carried his conquests far into India, he was accompanied by Aristotle in the capacity of naturalist to the expedition. This great scholar, the father of Natural History, had quite an army of assistants, and must have become cognisant of the wonderful powers of the Homing Pigeon, one would think, and of the great use to which those powers might be applied. He travelled through the countries which may justly be regarded as the home of the Carrier Pigeon accompanying Alexander throughout the whole of this victorious campaign. And yet we find him silent, or at any rate silent in the few works which are at present extant out of the 400 treatises which he originally compiled. Perhaps he may have mentioned the Homing Pigeon in some of the books which have been lost, but I am dubious even of the truth of this assumption, for Pliny, the Roman naturalist, who quotes so freely and shamelessly from his Greek brother naturalist, would have ready access to the whole of Aristotle’s works, and yet he is silent on this point also.

Once again, we have two very peculiar stories told of Homing Pigeons. one by Pliny, and the other by Montaigne. That referred to by Pliny is as follows:

Octavianus brought assistance to Brutus, who was being beseiged by Antonius at Mutina. He was not able to approach the city, for Antonius held all the approaches. Therefore, wishing to inform Brutus of everything, he at first sent letters written on leaden plates, which were carried by a diver under the water of the river: he afterwards used pigeons for the purpose, which he used to keep for a long time without food; then he used to tie letters to their necks, and let them go from a place near the walls. The pigeons, eager for food, used to make for the highest buildings, and were then taken by Brutus.

Now, why did Octavianus adopt such crude methods if he was aware of the methods adopted by the ancients? And here we have a complete refutation of the stories told by Prontinus of the use of Carrier Pigeons by Julius Cæsar during his conquest of Gaul; for Antonius, Brutus and Octavianus must have been aware of the methods used by Cæsar in the transmission of messages by pigeons, and would certainly not have adopted such crude methods as those recorded above. Pliny’s Natural History is such an atrocious medley of falsehood and truth that it is rather difficult to distinguish one from the other.

Montaigne informs us that at the theatre in Rome pigeons were liberated by sight-seeing patricians to carry messages to those at home, and to return with an answer, an achievement which puts the Modern Homer and Homer fancier to the blush. And Ovid tells us that Taurosthenes, by a pigeon stained with purple, gave notice to his father of his victory at the Olympic games, sending it to him at Ægina. Cæcina, a friend of Augustus Cæsar adopted the same methods, but used swallows for the purpose.

In Montaigne’s pigeons we have far more wonderful products than the Modern Homers, but again I reiterate, which of these ancient historians are we to believe?

In so far as I am personally concerned, I cannot think for one moment that the birds were capable of the achievements attributed to them by Montaigne, for if we